Dux et Comes I

Mediums: tempera, canvas, wood.
Location: The Tate Modern Gallery, London (the UK).

Wadsworth began to introduce abstract forms into his marine still lifes by the end of the 1920s. The painting belongs to a series called “Dux et Comes” – a musical term used to describe choral roles in the fugue and translated from Latin as “leader and companion”. The leader (soprano) has one sound, and the companion (alt) echoes. The artist’s works in this series explore human relationships and moods. The two amorphous and soft figures floating above the blue look like clouds, while they cast shadows of different colours.